The Food Co-op

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We Are Growing—Thanks to the Grow Fund!

by Celine Santiago, Hugging Tree Legacy

Shy Acre Farm is an intergenerational demonstration farm in the heart of Port Townsend. Our first projects focused on the connections between the land that hosts us and the native people, plants, and animals who have inhabited it, while our greatest goal is to create a healing sanctuary with a sustainable growing space and a “Life is Art” alignment within our work.

Last year, we designed an inclusive family program and fostered farm connections for youth volunteers. Through a weekly Farm Menu series, participants could choose their “art farm adventure” and explore nature with creative projects interwoven with volunteer farm work.

We grew roots supporting young families in the community with the inauguration of Heartberry Cooperative Playschool. Juri Jennings of PeddlerPT, Corinne Adams, and Natalie Maitland partnered with Shy Acre Farm to create a classroom on the farm within a greenhouse. Additionally, PeddlerPT delivered 113.5 pounds of produce to the Food Bank for us in 2021. We also gave regular harvest shares to the Jefferson County Anti-Racist Fund.

We bookended the farming season with community celebrations. To welcome spring, we hosted the annual Plant and Seed Exchange in collaboration with Friends of the Trees Society. To conclude the year, we held two art-activist events in our community garden to honor the cycles of life. For Dia de los Muertos, we celebrated autumn for a second year at our Listen Earth Art Altar. We closed the year with a winter solstice observance including poetry, song, and a “Luminary Labyrinth.”

For our 2022 season, the intergenerational farm and nature program will meet June through September, pairing a themed menu with art learning experiences. Adrianna Santiago, working in collaboration with fellow local artist Grace Love, will continue to grow an integrative art farm program for kids from 2-18.

The community programming available at Shy Acre Farm would not be possible without the generous donations of our local businesses and nonprofit organizations. The Grow Fund from The Food Co-op provided the funding for the supplies needed to build two picnic tables with benches and a shed to hold our farm tools and support our solar array. For this we are truly grateful.

Applications open on August 1st.

Non-Profits and Community groups are encouraged to apply.

2022 Funds available –$1548.02

Visit www.foodcoop.coop/grow-fund